“There’s a bit of frustration and disappointment, because at the end of January we thought if we could keep pushing as we were, about 1.5 points a game, that we could have got near to 70 points and that would have given us a great chance of getting in the play-offs,” Mowbray explained.

“We fell away, had two months when the team found it hard to get the three points.”

Blackburn won automatic promotion from League One last term and of the three promoted clubs they have fared the best with both Wigan Athletic and Rotherham United sucked into a relegation battle.

Rovers are safe in mid table, sitting on 59 points having never been in danger of the bottom three. It has been a decent season on their return to the Championship, yet it could have been so much better.

Mowbray’s side were just behind the playoff positions in January. However, a run of nine league defeats in 11 games prompted a slide down the table and their top six aspirations were over by mid-March.

Blackburn have bounced back with four wins in succession, leaving them within eight points of the top six.

But they will look back on that run of poor form with regret as they lost to the likes of Reading, Stoke City and Rotherham in games they arguably should have won. Another nine points would have them sixth now.

Still, Mowbray will take comfort knowing he has the base of a decent squad at Ewood Park and players such as Ben Brereton, Joe Rothwell, Adam Armstrong, Ryan Nyambe, Bradley Dack and Darragh Lenihan are all still young with plenty of potential to improve.

Tom Thorogood

I'm a 27 year old language teacher and writer based out in Mexico with a passion for football and swimming. I like to focus on the top European Leagues, especially La Liga, as well as the footballing development in Central and South America. My favourite teams include Derby County, Barcelona and Jagaures de Chiapas.